University adds new business major to list

UW-Whitewater will implement a new bachelor of business administration degree in entrepreneurship during the spring semester. The UW System Board of Regents approved the major Sept. 11. The degree makes UW-Whitewater the first UW System school, outside of UW-Madison, to offer an undergraduate entrepreneurship major. UW-Whitewater currently offers 56 majors, spread across five departments. Lois Smith, interim dean of the College of Business and Economics said the new degree will help graduates with small business ventures in a struggling economy. The major is designed to enable graduates to obtain experience needed to start new business ventures and to facilitate ideas for innovation to existing companies in a global economy. "The economy of Wisconsin is, in many cases, based on small businesses and entrepreneurs," Smith said. "A lot of our students come from entrepreneurial families, where they have small businesses, and they have come school and perhaps go back and work at those small businesses." The entrepreneurship major will offer courses from various business disciplines including marketing, finance and management. Experience in these fields will permit students to become familiar with issues facing entrepreneurial businesses, while learning how to evaluate the viability of business proposals as well as consulting projects. "The entrepreneurship major will give students the tools to be able to operate their own businesses, and it will also give them the support of faculty that are knowledgeable in different areas," Smith said. Entrepreneurship graduates also will be able to prepare a business plan, aiding the understanding of advantages and disadvantages from various forms of financing. A press release from the university stated about 40 students currently are pursuing general business degrees with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. The university expects enrollment in the major to increase as it becomes recognized by students. UW-Whitewater presently has a strong footing in the field of entrepreneurship, with an active student chapter of Collegiate Entrepreneurs', that sponsors the Warhawk Business Plan Contest annually. The approval for the degree came on the heals of the regents current attempts to focus on improved connections to Wisconsin's industry needs, promote entrepreneurship and gain a competitive advantage for students in high-paying jobs through research and development training.